Camps

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Baseball

April 23, 2015

Baseball Starts SAC Tournament Play Friday at Noon

SALISBURY, N.C. -- Catawba will open defense of its South Atlantic Conference Tournament Championship in Forest City, N.C., on Friday at noon against either Anderson or Brevard. The Indians also won back-to-back tournaments in 2009 and 2010 and have claimed six titles overall.

Catawba enters ranked 12th in NCAA II according to the Collegiate Baseball Poll and fifth by the NCBWA. The Indians are first in the initial NCAA II Southeast Regional Poll that determines the NCAA playoff field.

The Indians took home both the SAC Player and Pitcher of the Year awards in Will Albertson and Craig Brooks. Albertson is battling for the NCAA II triple crown, ranking top three in average, home runs and RBI. Brooks has eight wins and leads NCAA II with 121 strikeouts.

Catawba battled back from the loser's bracket last year after falling in its second game to Newberry. The Indians have not won the tournament after losing its initial game. Overall, Catawba is 13-7 in games played at McNair Field and have won two of the previous five tournaments held in Forest City.

During the regular season, Catawba won both ends of a doubleheader against Brevard in the rain-shortened series. Those games came back in late February and was highlighted by Brooks' no-hitter in the 4-0 win. The Indians took game two 7-0. Catawba swept the regular season series at Anderson in late March. The Indians won by the scores of 20-7, 9-1 and 13-4.